By Joanna Plucinska and Conor Humphries
FARNBOROUGH/DUBLIN, July 20 (Reuters) – Airline executives on Monday cautioned planemakers Boeing and Airbus not to rush out a new generation of commercial jets without ensuring their technology is mature enough.
“I’m not keen to see a new narrow body in a 2030 time frame,” Paul Kent, chief commercial officer at BOC Aviation, told the Airline Leaders Summit, held at the Farnborough Airshow.
“When you launch aircraft and they are not mature at inception, and you build that maturity through the introduction of the program, it means that you need that program to run for a considerable number of years in order for it to achieve overall economic viability,” Kent added.
The comments come as airlines warn that with current backlogs in order books and instability around the supply chain, integrating next-generation aircraft that haven’t yet reached maturity, or have established maintenance pathways could cause more disruption.
On Sunday, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope said the planemaker was working on some new technology, but was working on certification for aircraft and ramping up production primarily.
Kent’s comments echoed Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, who warned against overfocusing on new technology during the budget carrier’s first-quarter earnings call.
“Until somebody gets Star Trek travel, and you start beaming people around the world…instead of flying them. I think we’re dealing with 737 Maxes and Airbus Neos for the next 10 or 15 years,” O’Leary said.
Still, British Airways Chief Executive Sean Doyle said that they’d be keen to see whatever Airbus develops.
“We’d be very interested in whatever they’re working on,” Doyle said.
And Kent added that they would consider newer models soon if there was “meaningful technological change” on offer.
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Sharon Singleton)
